Frac sand mining in Buffalo Co. (11/20/2011)

From: Joan Schnabel On Wed., Nov. 30, at 6:30 pm the Zoning committee of Buffalo County will consider whether they want to propose a moratorium on frac sand mining. If they decide to proceed with this a public hearing would be held in December. It is important that people come to the zoning committee meeting to support the request for a moratorium. Here is where things stand now in Buffalo County. There are currently 2 approved frac sand mining operations. One is operational and the other, owned by Ryan Barth on Platte Valley Road, has just been permitted. A permit application from Steve Stamm of Mondovi will be taken up December 1. A permit application recently submitted by Herman Hoesley was denied, but he will be able to reapply at a future date. There are more permits (number unknown) in the planning process. The decision to approve a permit rests with the Board of Adjustment. This is composed of three county residents appointed by the County Board. They are advised by the BC zoning administrator and a technician. This system generally works fine to resolve most zoning requests, but frac sand mining is on a different scale and impacts many more people in the county than just the adjoining neighbors. When a request comes before the Board of Adjustment, they are required to notify all property owners adjacent to the land in question and to place a notice in a newspaper. Once a permit request has come before the board they are required to act on it within 30 days. With minimal publicity, the recent hearing and resultant approval of a permit application slipped below many people’s radar. After being granted a permit the mine owners must negotiate with the town/county over the road. They are asked to escrow an amount to cover the damage that the multiple, heavy trucks will cause to the town/county roads. This amount is negotiable and if the mine owners are unwilling to escrow the required amount the mine cannot go forward. But if the town and or county set the amount too low, the taxpayers end up footing the bill, or driving on poor roads. Permits are required from the DNR for air quality and stormwater and high capacity wells. The chief monitoring concern is crystalline silica, small particles that act like shards, and remain permanently in the small airways of the lungs causing inflammation and potentially cancer, silicosis or autoimmune disease. WDNR, while acknowledging that this is a known health hazard, says it lacks the expertise and resources to monitor these. Per Jeffery Johnson, a DNR environmental engineering supervisor, most companies ask for and get a variance to bypass the requirement for air monitoring. Only one, EON (formerly Enron), has had to install a monitor due to citizen concerns in Chippewa Falls. (Source Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, WisconsinWatch.org 7/31/11) Frac sand mining is a big business. Unimin recently paid $5.3 million for 436 acres 45 miles NE of La Crosse. That comes to approximately $12,000 per acre. Even if your property does not adjoin a mine you still could end up with 60 trucks going by your house every day, noise, and exposure to crystalline silica, not to mention the loss of the scenic bluffs and the beauty of our county. If the zoning committee chooses to consider a moratorium at the Nov. 30 meeting, this would be followed by a public hearing sometime in December. It would then go to the full county board for a vote. Please make your voice heard. Come to the meeting, or if you can’t make it, call or email Paul van Eijl, Buffalo County Zoning administrator 608) 685-6218 paul.vaneijl@buffalocounty.com and let him know your concerns.

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